Musculoskeletal diseases and disorders are among the most common of human afflictions. They affect all age groups and can frequently cause disability, impairments, and handicaps. They include a variety of different diseases that cause pain or discomfort in the bones, joints, muscles, or surrounding structures, and they can be acute or chronic, focal, or diffuse.
It is estimated that approximately 33 percent of U.S. adults are affected by musculoskeletal symptoms, including limitation of motion or pain in a joint. Musculoskeletal disorders range from back pain to, and include different types of arthritis, and musculoskeletal pain. Degeneration of musculoskeletal tissues is a hall mark of many musculoskeletal disease/disorders including meniscal degeneration, meniscal degenerative tear, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, muscular dystrophy, and the like.
Current treatment options for these diseases/disorders include treatment with a pharmalogical agent, such as steroids or non-steroid, anti-inflammation drugs, or surgery. However, all current available pharmacological agents only relieve clinical symptoms and have no effect on the progression of the underlining diseases/disorders (degenerative meniscal tear, osteoarthritis, intervertebral disc degeneration, muscular degeneration, etc.) or have some undesirable side effect (for example, steroids can cause bone loss and increase the risk of infection and bisphosphonate can cause Jaw osteoporosis). For instance, non-steroid anti-inflammation drugs including Cox-2 inhibitors are often prescribed to treat joint related pain for a variety of disorders including arthritis, meniscal and ligament injuries and tears. However, the use of many of these drugs are associated with undesirable side effects including upset stomach, cramping, and bleeding. In addition, the repetitive use of steroids can be harmful to tissue and bones.
Accordingly, there still exists a need for methods of treating musculoskeletal diseases and disorders, which not only relieve clinical symptoms, but may also help inhibit the progression of the underlying disorder/disease.